A Short War in 1972.

In 1971 Brian Hutchinson and I were posted to Khor Fakkan then as now a picturesque setting on the East coast north of Fujairah Emirate.The difference between now and then though could not be more absolute. Now you can drive there on a 4(or is it 6?) lane motorway in about an hour from Dubai and be choosing your luxury hotel from among the many lining the beach looking out over the Indian Ocean. Take a drive and admire the many luxury villas. In 1971 it was quite different. Then it was a four or more hour drive on a graded road through the mountains in parts in very poor condition with occasional diversions along rocky wadi beds. A Land Rover was pretty much essential.

Those who remember the journey in those days will recall the small Beau Geste-type fort at the foot of the mountains leaving Sharjah Emirate. Whether it still exists I know not but then it contained a contingent of Trucial Oman Scouts(TOS) with a British officer. It was our custom to stop at this fort and have a beer with the CO before crossing the mountains to Fujairah and up the coast to Khor Fakkan. KF itself was no more than a fishing village with extensive date palm groves all around. The town itself consisted of a single dirt road lined with open fronted shops and the jebel loomed over the semi-circular bay. Very peaceful. In summer it was unbelievably hot. We had no telephone, no mains electricity and of course no supermarket or cold store, though there must have been an Indian duka selling basic foodstuffs.

Communication with the outside world was by telegram delivered by a bearer from the little Post Office across the dusty square. These were usually messages from Dubai office (to whom we reported) along the lines of "Please advise whereabouts your monthly returns". My, how we laughed as we wondered ourselves where they were! The Bank building was by far the most substantial building in the village but when I last saw it in the mid 1990's it was dwarfed by the other building around it and was I think used as a store room by the Baladiya.

There was little enough to do and we were usually back at our compound shortly after closing at noon. Much of our spare time was spent exploring the incredibly unspoilt coast line and tiny villages completely untouched by the modern world. There were few Europeans on the Coast at that time so our social life was limited. As I recall there were only two Dutch missionaries in Fujairah who had been there many years trying to bring down the appalling child mortality rates, a highly amusing political Advisor to the Ruler of Fujairah who we rarely saw, and a TOS officer, Major Jim Stockdale, who dropped in from time to time. I do not really recall his actual function there though as the Dhofar War was raging in southern Oman maybe he was keeping an eye on things. Actually I think he enjoyed the solitude as well. We had occasional visitors at weekends but our highlight was our monthly trip back to Dubai mainly to resupply with food and booze, hand in returns etc and socialise at the old bachelors Mess in Cinema Square, Deira and the old Saharah nightclub.

In many ways it was an idyllic posting and I look back on it with some nostalgia, grateful to have experienced that type of remote existence, no longer available.

The East Coast had some curious border anomalies including a small Oman enclave which we passed through between Fujairah and KF which was itself Sharjah territory despite Sharjah being on the Arabian Gulf. This must have led to interminable disputes over what was lush and fertile land. One such dispute developed into a shooting war which I have always known as the Weekend War because that was how long it lasted. A short search on the internet reminded me of the basic details. It was fought in February 1972 between armed Bedu tribesmen from Fujairah on one side and Sharjah on the other. A total of 22 were killed and 12 wounded and the dispute arose over a quarter acre of land containing water wells and date palms so it was serious enough.

Brian and I were in Dubai when this broke out and the first we heard of it was on the Friday when shaken travellers returning to Dubai with bullet holes in their vehicles. It seemed the Bedu were simply shooting at anything moving. Naturally we thought we could stay put in Dubai while this was sorted out and it was safe to drive. Not a bit of it. We were told to get back to Khor Fakkan pronto and open the branch on Saturday as usual. So we set off. We stopped at the TOS fort hoping for advice and possibly an escort. The officer made it pretty clear that we were unwise to go further. "They've gone crazy and are shooting at everything." Great we thought, particularly as we had a Sharjah registered vehicle. Nevertheless we said we had to take a chance and press on. The TOS officer agreed to give us an escort to the Fujairah border but no further. "After that you are on your own. Put your foot down”. Fat chance. Not long before we were stopped by armed tribesmen who ransacked our vehicle and broke our booze bottles, debated among themselves but eventually waved us on. (Customers?)

Not so lucky next time. We reached Fujairah and set off at speed along the track. Before long we were pursued by tribesmen waving weapons at us and eventually cut us off. Clearly angry and jumpy they held us at gunpoint against our Land Rover and stood some way off with weapons levelled at us, gesticulating furiously and clearly debating among themselves what to do with us. Given that these people had already killed a number of other tribesmen I maintain to this day that they were debating whether to do away with us particularly as we had tried to get away. We'll never know but it was a very nasty moment and who knows-we may have been the final victims of that nasty little war.

After 40 years memory fades and I may have overlooked some details. Pity Brian is not around to corroborate but if any one else wants to chip in, please do so.

With Vaughan's assistance I am posting up this account and also some pictures showing variously the landscape, our old compound (now a dormitory for workers and full of charpoys when I last visited), roadblocks manned by TOS, our escort through the Jebel and finally, when the TOS moved in to restore order some days later, some pictures of them and their armoured vehicles in the square in front of the Bank. There is even a machine gunner crouched below the Manager's office window.

And yes, we did open on the Saturday. Happy days!

George